Buck Point, San Sevaine Lookout

5 October 1991

By: Ron Jones

Ron & Leora Jones

Bright and early to beat the heat, a surprising 20 people met at the intersection of the I-15 and Sierra Avenue. With periodic road closure in the past preventing the drive for these peaks, several people were anxious to get them the easy way. In addition, it was one of the two easy, slow-paced beginners welcome hikes advertised that day for Oktoberfest. We once again were able to hand out a few Sierra Club applications with the HPS Super Frip number, of course.

We consolidated cars across from the Shell station and were caravanning in 10 vehicles by 7:30am. To our surprise, there were at least 100 men in bright orange vests and fatigues perched on every rocky outcrop and ledge they could find. Low and behold, it was opening day of deer season. Luckily, we had no incident or problem with any of them and were well out of their shooting trajectory.

To get Buck Point first, we began hiking from near the intersection of 1N34 and 1N36 up the road that is in quite good shape. Most high clearance 2WD vehicles could drive to the fork which is 1/2 mile from the summit. We left the road and followed the jeep trail off to the left and were breaking through the brush and on the peak in 65 minutes. After signing in and taking in the views, we were off for the cars. Three people signed out to hike over to see the Joe Elliot Memorial Tree. Later we were told that the tree is down, and in several pieces.

We then moved the cars nearer to the intersection of the two roads for our take off for San Sevaine. We met a couple who had missed us at the meeting point and were hiking to get the two peaks alone. We hiked down the road, as per the peak guide, following the jeep trail off to the right and were thankful for the occasional shade as it was getting quite warm. Within 40 minutes we were on top of the rocky point near the concrete slab marking the old lookout, and were signing the register. With the temperature rising and the smog level more than usual, I was the last one coming out and back to the cars by 12:30pm. This day was especially significant to me since San Sevaine was my 99th peak as planned. My emblem will be Halloween weekend at Joshua Tree on Ryan Mountain.

After a brief lunch, we all headed back down the dirt road and suddenly came to a quick halt. A fairly new Toyota truck had gone over the edge on a curve the day before and had been abandoned. Our intent of getting to the Oktoberfest at an early hour was interrupted by the tow truck. Quickly a long line of cars formed and we all watched over the side of the road as a long cable was attached and slowly pulled the truck up and onto the road.